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Showing posts from June, 2012

Fun facts about the German language from the point of view of a Russian :)

1. Each year around 15-18 million people start studying German . 2. The very first book in the world was printed in German. It happened in 1455, and the book was the Bible. Now every 10th book published in the world is in German. 3. German is famous for its long words. According to German Wikipedia and the Guinness World Records book, the longest word in the German language is Donaudampfschifffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft. The English translation is  Association for subordinate officials of the head office management of the Danube steamboat electrical service s ( Read more here ) . Here's the Russian equivalent:  Общество служащих младшего звена органа по надзору за строительством при главном управлении электрического обслуживания дунайского пароходства . As Mark Twain once said, " Some German words are so long that they have a perspective! " :)

Euro 2012 - dictionaries and glossaries of football terms

Are you watching European Football championship now? I am enjoying a feast period in my translation business at the moment, but I try my best to watch at least some games. That actually gave me an idea to look for some cool football glossaries and share them with you. Hoping that you will find them useful.

10 interesting facts about the Russian language

In my previous post  I promised to follow with the  interesting info about some other languages. So here are 10 facts about the Russian language which might be of interest to those who are studying it. If you would like to have this list in Russian, please contact me and I will send it to you by email. So, what do I find interesting about my native language? 1. Russian has about 500,000 words, but only 2,000-2,500 of them are used frequently. 100 most frequently used words make 20% of all written and oral speech. A high school graduate's vocabulary usually has 1,500 to 4,000 words. Those who have graduated from a higher educational institution normally have a richer vocabulary consisting of approximately  8,000 words. 2. It's compulsory for all astronauts in the international space station to learn Russian, so we can call it an international language of space :)

Translators - How to avoid FEAST and FAMINE! New webinar!

I am so very excited to share the news about this webinar. I am sure it will be very useful for both new and experienced freelance translators. Joy has a lot to share! We are going to explore the vital issues for all freelance translators : Feast and famine cycle - is it really the norm? Not having enough work and having too much work Having trouble finding high paying clients Having unreliable freelance income You can sign up for the event FREE if you click here The event will take place on Tuesday, June 12th. You can learn more about it here . I hope to see you at the webinar!

15 interesting facts about the English language

I prepared this list for one of my English classes. And then it dawned on me that I can share it with you, too! So here are 15 facts about the English language that I find very interesting. Hope you do, too ;) Rudyard Kipling was fired as a reporter for the San Francisco Examiner. His dismissal letter said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just don't know how to use the English language. This isn't a kindergarten for amateur writers." No language has more synonyms than English.

Vladimir in late spring: let's take a walk in the Patriarch's garden :)

Happy Saturday everybody! Are you enjoying your weekend? This post is absolutely off the topic of translation. Last weekend my mother, my daughter Delia and I went to our favourite park in the city. Vladimir is beautiful in late spring, and this park is so very special! It is called "Patriarch's garden" (Патриарший сад). It has been known since the 16th century. Some legends say that it has existed since the days of Pince Andrey Bogolyubsky (12th century), but there's not enough evidence of that. In the 16th century a cherry orchard was planted here and the Russian Orthodox elite came here to enjoy the cherries and the beautiful views that the park offered. It was especially popular in the 19th century. Unfortunately, after the revolution of 1917 the park was virtually destroyed. In 1948, after the war it was renamed into the "Garden of 16 republics" (Сад 16 республик). School children helped the adults to take care of it. They planted the trees again, b